The remnants of the British New Mediterranean Fleet gathered in small boats to form a small fleet, and since the commanders were almost all killed, the remaining sailors soon fought for leadership.

Someone proposed to go to Gibraltar and someone proposed to go to Cyprus, but the distance between the two places was so far that it was unknown whether they would make it to their destination alive.

So some people proposed to go to Sicily or go back to Malta directly, but the previous robbery of Austrian merchant ships and the sale of grain to the Sicilians at high prices had already offended the other party, and now they would definitely be retaliated against if they went to Sicily.

Returning to Malta was not a wise move, as they would most likely be killed by the Austrians patrolling the coast as spies or by enemy troops trying to land on the island, as they had done before.

The remaining option is France, but it is not clear why the Great Eastern Fleet, which was originally an ally, suddenly attacked them.

However, they did not have much time to discuss, and suddenly another fleet appeared at sea.

The fleet was an all-Arabic style of clippers, and when they spotted them, they sped close to them.

The remnants of the British sailors were somewhat unclear, but they were not alarmed, as the Ottomans had been allies of the British for most of the time.

But the Arab sailors did not come to the aid of the British, but aimed their cannons and muskets at the latter's small sampan.

At this time, the British sailors had no power to fight back, and they were unprepared before, so their small fleet was quickly wiped out.

And the Arab sailors did not seem to want to let them go, and all kinds of harpoons and spearguns beckoned into the water, and soon the nearby sea was dyed red.

The thick bloody gas attracted a large number of predators hiding deep in the ocean, and the British New Mediterranean Fleet mysteriously disappeared again

He was accompanied by the Great Eastern Fleet of the Second French Republic, while Austria trumpeted the victory of its Adriatic Fleet on the island of Malta.

Later, Friedrich led the fleet to Cyprus, where the British did not have the courage of the elite of the North Sea Fleet, and they chose to surrender almost immediately.

The British and French governments did not believe in the great naval victory won by the Austrians.

However, it is an indisputable fact that Malta and Cyprus have fallen one after another, and the whereabouts of the new Mediterranean fleet are unknown.

The Second French Republic was also unable to contact its own Great Eastern Fleet, and it seemed unlikely that two of the world's largest fleets would disappear together

London, 10 Downing Street.

John Russell slammed the Times on his desk.

"Gentlemen! I wonder what's going on? Who the hell is lying? ”

Admiral George Eden and Foreign Secretary Palmerston glanced at each other, both seeing a look of surprise in each other's eyes.

Because neither side can be sure that the information in their hands is true, but they only have this information.

"Prime Minister, I think we should give our intelligence officers a little more time."

The words of Secretary of the Admiralty, George Eden, ignited the wrath of John Russell.

"When? The Austrians' newspapers have already been delivered to England! And what about our intelligence officers! What are they doing?

If their news came later than the newspapers, then I don't think our intelligence bureau would need to exist! ”

John Russell's words left George Aiden speechless.

After all, the intelligence of the intelligence bureau, which spends a lot of money, has lagged behind the media every time, and the gossip is really a bit embarrassing.

But Palmerston had a different opinion, and he cleared his throat.

"The Times has always been able to get information before our intelligence bureau, and this must be because they have colluded with foreign forces, and I propose to strictly investigate the Times and formulate new rules to rectify the newspaper industry."

In fact, the Times, which was paid to do things, did offend a lot of people, so a series of new regulations on the newspaper industry were passed by the British Parliament without much resistance.

But the Times hasn't been shut down, so who calls the backstage hard enough?

The question of public opinion is easy to solve, after all, the British are most concerned about the economic crisis and the spreading famine at this time.

Due to the shrinking of the European and North American markets, the Qing piracy problem, the rise of new powers in the South Seas, the rebellion of the Indian princes, and the decline in the global share of British goods, the lack of competitiveness, and many other problems, the economic crisis of the British people at this time was more serious than in the same period of history.

Natural disasters continue in the British Isles, and the impact of potato late blight has long been confined to Ireland.

Farms in Scotland, Wales and England are suffering from the same problem, but historically, the British government has imported large quantities of grain from the United States and has been crushing the Irish region to the limit, so the damage in the UK itself does not seem to be severe.

However, since the border dispute was still unresolved, the U.S. government put pressure on Britain through the grain and cotton issues.

Britain had tried to find other ways to solve the problem, but the war with Austria disrupted everything.

At this time, it was simply impossible for the British to send another army to put pressure on the Americans.

In Ireland, there were constant rebellions and tax riots, and at the same time, a large number of people began to flee with their families, and the overpopulated island of Ireland was once in a dilemma of labor shortage.

At the same time, the problem of the Chartists in Britain was never resolved, so it led to the radicalization of the Chartists, the workers' strike, and the miners' refusal to go down the mines.

Since the establishment of the London Workers' Association in 1836, workers' associations have sprung up all over Britain.

At the beginning of 1848, representatives of the British Workers' Association went to Paris to meet the two forerunners and witness the February Revolution in France.

And there are some trade union representatives in Britain who feel that Britain can also follow the example of France, because there are more British workers and they are more miserable than French workers.

As recently as April 6, 1848, a massive Chartist movement broke out in Britain.

John Russell didn't have a good idea, he could only catch it.

Although the Chartists seem to have settled down much after that, there is still a lingering specter in the British government.

At this moment of internal and external troubles, the disappearance of the new Mediterranean fleet is not so conspicuous.

In any case, neither Malta nor Cyprus could afford to lose the British Empire. And they all know in their hearts that the new Mediterranean Fleet is mostly finished, but no one wants to take on this responsibility.

The achievements of the Austrians were indeed amazing, but fortunately, the British Empire had a great cause, and it was not a problem to organize an expeditionary fleet to completely destroy the Austrian navy.

The only problem was that they did not know how and at what cost the Austrians won the victory.

However, they soon got even worse news, the French Great Eastern fleet did not disappear, but chose to betray the French Second Republic.

(End of chapter)